Jalan Gajah Mati, Kota Bharu, Kelantan

This is my 100th post and I am dedicating this post to a certain Aida Rahim aka PB of Puchong, a new friend which I have never met. Read on and you will know why this post is dedicated to her.Of late I have been getting lazy and prefer to use more photographs not just to illustrate the blogbut also to tell the story. I guess it will be beneficial both ways as you the reader wont have to spend too much time reading and by glancing at the pictures, you can grasp the underlying story.

Jalan Gajah Mati (The Dead Elephant Road) Kota Bharu is a short stretch of road of about a kilometer in length beginning from Bulatan Jam Besar (Clocktower roundabout) heading west to the river bank of Sungai Kelantan. It intersects Jalan Sultanah Zainab where there is a traffic light to regulate the traffic there. It isn't far from Jalan Kubor Kuda (Horse Cemetery Road).

Borrowed this maps and the followings from Google.

I have yet to know how to capture the image so I have to use the orthodox way of photographing the image. Will have to wait for Akmal to return and teach me the technique.

When I tried to find out how Jalan Gajah Mati derived its name I was given this answer by the first person I posed the question to.

"In the olden days an expatriate caught his wife fooling around with his horse. He became enraged that he shot dead his horse and that is how Jalan Kubor Kuda came to be named. What do you think could have happened in Jalan Gajah Mati?".

That answer which was not exactly the answer, left me stumped and I refuse to make anymore inquiries.

This is the view from across the Bulatan Jam Besar with Wisma Yakin and Wisma Gerakan flanking Jalan Gajah Mati.
The view from the other side of the roundabout.
The round about at the east end is much transformed now with the addition of a tall pillar with an open holy book on top of it. From the holy book, water cascades down forming a fountain. The new state government has penchants for such object while removing all the sculptures resembling animals.
Anyway Jalan Gajah Mati is significant in my life. It was the road where my office was once located sometimes from 1995 to 1996. For nearly 2 years the office was also my home because my family lives in Gua Musang and return home only for the weekends until we moved into our present home in Pasir Mas in mid 1996. So much memory of Jalan Gajah Mati.

Looking westward from the roundabout you can never miss Wisma Yakin on the left which used to house the MAS town office. When MAS was the sole carrier plying the KBR-KUL (Kota Bharu - Kuala Lumpur) route Wisma Yakin was a hive of activities as the building also housed many travel companies due to the approximate location to the carriers office.

Wisma Gerakan which belongs to the Gerakan Party houses the Wawasan Open University.

This dilapidated building was where my office was located. The one in the middle was the office and now it is a coffee shop. Since it was the ex office of another sister company, it wasn't our choice. Location wise it was perfect as it wasn't far from the MAS office then and also from the Tourist Information Kelantan. The roof was made from singhora tiles like the one next door. The roof leaked so much that we asked the landlord to replace the roof and thus the leak stopped. This building is now an eyesore and the sooner it is torn down the better.

Two doors away in the same wooden block is this friendly chinese cobbler known as Abang Chuan. His shop is called Kedai Kasut Maju and is very popular with the locals especially the traffic police who frequent his shop to repair their long riding boots.

Abang Chuan is now 62 years old and has been a mender of bad soles for the past 28 years. He will continue working as long as health permits. Working keeps his mind active and meeting cistomers from all walks of life keep him happy. Abang Chuan will alway have an ear for anybody who may pop in for a chat.

Further down the road is another block of wooden shop which may soon give way to more modern buildings.

Nasi Sumatra Hj. Ismail opposite to Kedai Kasut Maju is a popular nasi Minagkabau joint. It used to be Nasi Minagkabau Osman Larin but it seemed a few months back the coffee shop was taken over by Hoover. The blind was rolled up and I can't see the sign. Lunch hour will see the place crowded with patrons who love the spring chicken served there.

Meena Curry House serves the best nasi daun pisang in town. The organizer of Pesta Nasi 100 should have invited him to participate in the event recently held in Kota Bharu. Next to it is Motor Station, a dealer of motor cycles spare parts.

This is the view from the junction of Jalan Sultanah Zainab. Seng Hup Letrik which used to occupy the corner lot has moved off to another premise in Langgar.

The other end of Jalan Gajah Mati after the traffic light is flanked by Amico a shop dealing with Sport souvenirs and Restoran Kak Ros below.

Next to Restoran Kak Ros is this chinese restaurant by the name of Chen Lee Lai.

Next to the chinese restaurant there is this peculiar wooden buildings occupied by some restaurant of sorts.

I saw this sign of a madrasah with the name of Madrasah Tok Mesir. This definitely need another research as to who is the Tok Mesir.

The last block of shop houses near the river seemed to be made into a residence as there is no sign of business activity at all.

This is the end of the road and this used to be a place bustling with activities. This was before the Sultan Yahya Bridge was built. This place was a busy trading places where the people across the river landed to sell their produce before moveing on to the Kota Bharu market to sell whatever was unsold here.

This was also the place where the people from the upstream of Kelantan River stopped their bamboo rafts to sell whatever produce they have to sell. Even the bamboo raft was sold to traders like Pak Wil who traded in bamboo to be used for fencing, to be weaved into dinding buloh for houses or bundled up to support floating raft houses.

I took a peek at the river at the end of the road and saw this dilapidated raft house where a man in skull cap was seen fishing for udang galah. Can you see the bamboo used under the raft to keep the house afloat? The bamboo needs to be replaced after it has lost its buoyancy.

Back to the traffic light after the Amico shop is this quite new building.

A new building that houses the Hidayah Printing. The owner of this printing house was curious about what I was doing and I told him about my blogsite. I told him to Google for Life As I See It and when I googled it myself I was amazed to find about another 10 blogsites that carry almost the same name. Now I remember mine has three dots behind it. I wonder if he found it. Will have to visit him one day soon to find out.

Next to the Hidayah Printing is another dilapidated Malay house that has seen better days. I guess this house is rented out as the upkeep is not so well done.

Then I saw a small sundry shop and went in to buy a drink. I bought a can of cold drink stored in a refrigerator. The owner of the shop is known as Hajjah Nab but is called Haji Nab by the locals.

While drinking my drink I engaged her in small talk trying to find out more about the place and a certain Mak Su Minah who used to sell the best pulut bakar in Kelantan. The pulut bakar was so popular that even the current Sultanah of Johor Tengku Elek Zanariah used to order from her through her brother Tengku Iskandar who lives in Pasir Mas. The Sultan of Brunei will send his men to buy the pulut bakar from Mak Su Minah too. In those days her pulut bakar goes all the way to London brought over by travellers going visiting their relatives there.

Hajjah Nab told me that Mak Su Minah was very meticulous in the preparation of her pulut bakar that only santan from kelapa parut was used. The container used to cook the pulut bakar was made of copper and was specially made to order from Trengganu.

Hajjah Nab showed me the lane to the late Mak Su Minah's house.

Entering the lane I saw this house which was once a pretty Malay house but now is slowly but surely being damaged through lack of care due to non occupancy.

Opposite it lies the old house of Mak Su Minah which seems to be still being occupied. I think the house was rented out to Restoran Kak Ros for her workers to live as I saw their vehicle coming out from the house.

Seeing Hajjah Nab again I pose her the question of what happened to those houses that seems to be falling apart.

She said when the original owners died, non of the children would occupy the house because they are living elsewhere and have their own houses or the house will be involved in inheritance and the best way to share is to sell the house and share the proceed among the heirs.

Currently the owner of Dynasty Hotel is offering the best price for any property being sold in the area. Pretty soon all the properties in the area will go to them and a new building will be built on the site once they have purchased a sizable area there.

I guess the same fate will fall if not has already befallen on the house of the late Mak Su Minah.

Hajjah Nab told me that I can get some pulut bakar which is now being made by Kak Lah, a daughter in law of the late Mak Su Minah. It is being sold by others at the Hoover restaurant in town but I must be early otherwise it will be sold out.

So the next morning I went early to Kota Bharu to see this lady called Kak Nah who was selling the pulut bakar made by Kak Lah.

Kak Nah told me that she had been selling this pulut bakar since it was priced at RM0.50 a piece. I bought two pieces from her at RM1.50 each and asked her for direction to Kak Lah's house.

She told me to go through Jalan Che Su by the lane near the tyre shop and ask for Abang Mat Shaari or just ask for Abang Mat Pulut Bakar and people will know and show me the place.

It was PB the blogger who hinted to me to do this blog about Jalan Gajah Mati after reading my post about Pakpayne's kampong. So I made a call to PB asking her for more details about her so that I will know what to say when I approach her auntie Kak Lah later. She was riding her on her motorbike with he Abear and couldn't talk. She promised to call later when she reaches her office.

True to her promise she called later after I have settled down to talk to her uncle Abang Mat and her autie Kak Lah which she called ummi. So now you know who called PB when she wrote about it on this entry number 371 .

Actually it was quite simple to find Kak Lah's house. This banana leaf lying on the table infront of the house gave me the clue. When I stopped my bike to inquire, it was Kak Lah who answered my query. Later Abang Mat Shaari came out to talk to me but he refused to be photographed.

This daun pisang is special in that it comes from a special banana variety known in Kelantan as pisang galo. Could it be pisang tenggala or bengala? Can anybody help me out on this? I am only a half baked agriculturist and no expert on bananas. This leaf is special in that it doesn't break easily when folded. So the gravy (if any) for kuih won't leak when placed in it. Abang Mat laments that even the price of the banana leaf has gone so high that it is not really worth the while to be in this business anymore. What more with the price of the gluttinous rice, santan and sugar which are the main ingredients used to make it.



The front of Kak Lah's house. The chairs are outside the house and that was where we chatted.


Kak Lah whom PB calls ummi which means ibu.


The pulut bakar she made. The hand phone is to give you a comparison of the size. The handphone is an old motorolla so it is quite big. There were four pieces earlier including two given to me by Kak Lah and I have finished eating a piece which was quite filling. I guess the only way to survive in this business is to reduce the size to half and sell it at RM1.00 a piece. The present size is too big to be used as a desert unless it is to be cut up into smaller pieces. That way the producer will make some profit and the consumer will not feel the price increase so much.

With that now you know why Aida Rahim uses the nick of PB as it stands for the words Pulut Bakar the food made by her famous late grand mother Mak Su Minah Pulut Bakar. Later I came to know that PB's father in law is Pak Su Li a former friend of mine when he was working for Kesedar.

Aida was the person who asked me to write this post about Jalan Gajah Mati which was then known as Lorong Gajah Mati and for that I am dedicating my 100th post to her.

Read how PB responded to this post and pictures of her late grandma, her mother and herself at her post number 375.